Denmark’s Larsen Leads PBA Cheetah Championship Qualifying

RENO, Nev. (Nov. 11, 2017) – Denmark’s Thomas Larsen, one of Europe’s premier shot-makers, averaged 255.6 to top qualifying in the PBA Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Challenge Mobile Games at the National Bowling Stadium Saturday.

Larsen, a 27-year-old right-hander and two-time PBA Tour title winner, rolled games of 257, 238, 268, 258 and 278 in his first block and 258, 254, 223, 256 and 266 in Saturday’s second five-game round to finish with a 10-game total of 2,556 pins, overtaking Andrew Cain of Phoenix who broke the PBA’s five-game scoring record with a 1,352 total in the afternoon round. The previous five-game record was 1,350 by Joel Reyes in Fountain Valley, Calif., in 2007.

The Cheetah round was the third and shortest (33 feet of oil) of four animal pattern qualifying stages that are part of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX, presented by Eldorado Resorts Reno Properties, and the Go Bowling! PBA Tour.

“When I had it today, I struck a ton and when I didn’t, I was able to make the adjustments pretty quickly, so, yes, it was a really good day,” Larsen said. “I always seem to bowl well in Reno, and in the World Series. I really like this tournament.”

Larsen won both of his PBA Tour titles in international competition (Abu Dhabi in 2013 and Kuwait in 2014). He finished third in both the 2015 and 2016 Chameleon Championship, so winning a title on U.S. soil is “what I really want. That would be awesome.”

Trailing Larsen in the Cheetah standings were Sweden’s Jesper Svensson with a 2,519 total, Cain with 2,511 pins, Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., with an even 2,500 and Thailand’s Kim Bolleby with a 2,476 total.

The top 16 players who advanced to the Cheetah single-elimination match play competition on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. again included a diverse international group representing Denmark, Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, Canada and the U.S.

WSOB IX, which officially kicked off the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule, resumes Sunday with two five-game qualifying squads of the Pepsi PBA Scorpion Championship presented by GoBowling.com. At the conclusion of the Scorpion round, the top 49 players based on combined 40-game animal pattern qualifying totals will advance to the PBA World Championship cashers’ round which will involve additional five-game rounds on each of the four animal patterns Monday and Tuesday at 1 and 5 p.m. Leading the PBA World Championship qualifying after 30 of 40 games were Svensson with 7,318 pins; Larsen with 7,235; Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., with 7,205; Jason Belmonte of Australia with 7,076 and Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., with 7,067 pins.

The 40-game totals also will determine the top five United States and top five international players who will compete in the USA vs. The World team match that will be contested at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17, for telecast on Sunday, Dec. 10, on ESPN.

Sunday’s Scorpion round will be covered live on Xtra Frame at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., and fans can follow the game-by-game drama as players battle for berths in the PBA World Championship on pba.com’s “live scoring” feature.